"Mmmm no, come back to beeeed.... "

Dietrich was pulling on his jeans in the dark of the studio flat above his tattoo parlour. It was too fucking early in the day to be out of bed; if the sun ain't out yet to say hello, there'd usually be no reason to get up. But he had a lotta shit to get done before The Inkwell opened for business tonight so that was reason enough.

The voice behind him sighed heavily. A rich, feminine sigh that seemed to almost creep up around his shoulders and pull him back. He sat down on the edge of the bed, glancing back at the sound of muted pop. A small flame floated in the black, lit by the tip of a wand. It threw a weak light around the room. Walls, plastered over by black'n'white sketches, his bedsheets a tangled mess, silvery cobwebs melded into a ceiling corner.

A flimsy brunette, cigarette between her lipstick'd lips, sitting up against the headboard. She was smiling cheekily as she lit the joint- her green eyes met his and then the flame disappeared, plunging them back into darkness. He'd only gotten a glimpse of her skinny hips, her sharp elbows and paper-smooth skin.

All angles, this woman. "C'mon, fella. Stay in," she murmured and must have breathed out because Dietrich caught a whiff of gillyweed. He would've like to lug himself back to bed, take the skinny gal right into his arms and try to find the scent of her perfume underneath the smoke.

"Can't..." he heard himself say in a regretful voice. "Gotta run down to m'suppliers, doll. You can let yerself out." Her name escaped him. The wizard got up, grabbing the first shirt he could feel for while he headed for the stairs. The parlour hadn't been the same since Lana handed in her resignation. Gods, he hadn't been the same either. They needed a new receptionist before he wore himself out and it ain't like he could trust Dotty to run errands after she'd gone lost his order last time.

Dietrich paused at the landing and ran a hand through his hair, which was a li'l shorter than before. Change was good. He grimaced and started on down to begin the rest of the long, long day.